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Local young gun ready to fight on the national stage
Reigning Tasmanian Hyundai Excel Championship winner Charlie Parker is ready to demonstrate his improvement compared to what is expected to be a strong field for the entry level class.
Parker entered last year’s Race Tasmania event with limited circuit racing experience, but through racing great and grandfather Greg Crick, the young gun had Triple Eight Race Engineering’s Roland Dane on the radio.
However, Parker is eager to display his progression on the national stage at Race Tasmania next week.
“It’s cool to be on a big stage in a little car,” Parker remarked.
“There was a quality field in the Hyundai Excels last year and to be honest I wasn’t fast enough; I hadn’t been driving very long. But having drivers like Ben Grice and Jay Hanson contesting those races in 2021, they’re on such a high level, it was just unreal.
“It demonstrated to me where I needed to be in the Excels, so I worked hard since that event and I can now measure myself up against these guys again this year.”
In detailing his grandfather’s involvement in his career to this point, Parker was full of praise.
“He’s so good at setting up a car,” he said.
“I relay my feedback, both positive or negative to him and by the next race it’s fixed. He’s just a genius and very good at setting up a car, especially down here as he’s probably done more laps around Symmons or Baskerville than anyone else so his knowledge hasn’t been really good for me.
Parker highlighted the importance of Race Tasmania to the local categories, which this year includes Hyundai Excels, HQs Holden and the Tassie Tin Tops.
“It is exciting to have Trans Am and especially TCR Australia coming back because it provides great exposure to the local sponsors on television because in Tasmania it’s a small scene so many competitors rely on this support,” Parker explained.
“It means a lot to many people down here because they put a lot of work into everything. It was such a good round last year and I had such a ball with being able to race because it was the first time competing on the national stage.”
The local support card comprising the Hyundai Excels, HQs Holden and new class Tassie Tin Tops will showcase the best of Tasmania’s state racers in what are expected to be close contests.
Race Tasmania will again begin the Supercheap Auto TCR Australia Series in 2022 at Symmons Plains, supported by the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship, the Turtle Wax Trans Am Series in addition to the awesome local categories.
Make sure you get your tickets through Moshtix.